Politics

Vos, other lawmakers favor rolling back online court data

Madison — The Assembly's top lawmaker wants to roll back some of the information available to the public on a free online database of state court records.

His sentiments echo those of lawmakers in both parties who are working on several bills to scale back the data available on the Wisconsin Consolidated Courts Automation Programs, a website with nearly 8 million visitors a year.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) acknowledged that CCAP is popular with everyone from landlords and journalists to savvy singles checking out a dating prospect for any unseemly past.

Vos said he doesn't want to spoil that, but said he wanted to make sure that baseless criminal charges or a long resolved lawsuit don't become scarlet letters that unfairly dog citizens through life.

"If you were charged and found not guilty, I think after a certain period of time that shouldn't be on CCAP," Vos said in an interview. "It may not happen this session but I think it is a legitimate issue."

Vos said Rep. Mary Czaja (R-Irma) is drafting a bill on CCAP. Czaja couldn't be reached for an interview, but several other bills affecting CCAP have already been introduced in the Legislature in recent months.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, doesn't welcome this wave of legislation. He said state courts officials have already invested time in thinking through what information ought to be available to the public in paper and online.

"All of this tinkering ignores the tremendous amount of work that has been done by the court system and court records system on this issue," he said.

This bill, with its more limited effect on CCAP, has both Republican and Democratic support. That gives it a shot at passing the Legislature in the relatively short time before the session ends in the spring.

Another proposal, offered by Democrats only, would limit the general public's access to online information about criminal and civil cases brought against defendants until they had been proven in court. With no sponsors from the Legislature's Republican majority, that bill has little apparent chance of approval.

Vos said he wasn't sure that proposal had been fully thought through.

The last measure before lawmakers would allow for crimes such as prostitution to be expunged from court records if the defendant is a minor and a victim of human trafficking. In some of these cases, defendants are arrested and charged because authorities see that as the most effective way to remove a vulnerable young person from the company of more hardened criminals.

With mostly Democratic sponsors and one Republican, this bill's prospects are uncertain. Its lead sponsor in the Senate, Democrat Nikiya Harris of Milwaukee, wasn't available for comment on Wednesday.

CCAP includes basic court records on everything from criminal charges and convictions to lawsuits, traffic tickets and probate cases.

Site racks up page views

For the period including September 2012 through August 2013, the site had 7.6 million unique visitors who racked up nearly half a billion page views, said Tom Sheehan, a spokesman for the state courts system.

The system includes prominent notices in cases where a defendant was found innocent or had his or her charges dismissed.

Advocates for rolling back public access to CCAP said the online record of a frivolous lawsuit or refuted criminal charge may still make it harder for those affected to find a job, rent an apartment and get on with their lives.

So far, none of the bills affecting CCAP is shooting forward. The only bill that has even had a hearing is the Democratic bill dealing with both criminal and civil cases, and that proposal is unlikely to go further.

Still, the bills are getting scrutiny. Lueders, of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said he had few objections to the money judgments bill and even less opposition to the human trafficking proposal, which together would make modest reductions to the amount of information available to the public.

But Lueders said he wanted to hear more about why the money judgment bill was needed and why it would be effective.

He pointed out that even the records of frivolous lawsuits or unwarranted criminal charges can serve a worthwhile purpose, since they might help reveal a litigious businessman or an overzealous prosecutor.

"The council believes the people of Wisconsin are, by and large, smart enough and decent enough to make responsible use of court record information. It's too bad that so many of our elected officials do not agree," Lueders said.

Sheehan said the court system preferred to stay with its policy of keeping money judgments and other records online for the same period of time as court rules require the paper court records to be retained "so there isn't a second set of books." For most civil cases involving money judgments, that works out to 20 years. In the case of serious crimes, records can be maintained for even longer.

About Jason Stein

Jason Stein covers the state Capitol and is the author with his colleague Patrick Marley of "More than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions and the Fight for Wisconsin." His work has been recognized by journalism groups such as the American Society of News Editors, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors.